ITU-R BS.1770 / EBU R128 loudness normalisation with FInal Cut?

Pretty much every TV station expects the sound to be adjusted/normalized according to ITU-R BS.1770 or EBU R128. Loudness is specified in LUFS, i.e., as an absolute value relative to full digital level.


Final Cut has a loudness setting hidden in the audio analysis, but it uses a percentage as the unit. The built-in effects are mainly limited to funny monster voice distortion options, etc. 


The situation isn't much better with Compressor either. In the audio effects section, there's a dynamic range option, which works completely without units, and a rudimentary limiter.


For none of the search terms ITU, EBU, R128, 1770, LU, and LUFS are there even a single search result in the FCP and Compressor manuals. I ask, why?


In Premiere Pro, you can normalize the loudness to -23.00 LUFS in at least three places. I don't even want to start talking about the options in Audition and Media Encoder. 




The free Davinici Resolve also offers international professional normalization in at least two places. I am not really good at these two apps as I am with FC, but I found these loudness normalization settings in just a few minutes.




If Final Cut wants to be "PRO,“ these basic professional tools should be the absolute standard. Or have I just been too blind to see it over the past few years?


I appreciate your help.


In case you want to find out more about ITU-BS.1770 und EBS R128, check out rheir websites: https://www.itu.int/pub/R-REC/en and https://tech.ebu.ch/publications/tech3343

Mac Studio

Posted on Apr 15, 2025 12:06 AM

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Apr 16, 2025 10:52 AM in response to thorsten2509

At our studio we've been editing and delivering "PRO" programming using FCP for over 20 years. When the LUFS standard was instituted we simply installed the LUFS Meter from Klangfreund and kept working. I'm not exactly sure how long this product has been available but we've been using it within FCP for about six years. If you need to deliver compliant mixes this tool is super easy to use. We haven't had a rejection based on audio yet.


So no, the sky is not falling.

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Apr 17, 2025 7:45 PM in response to ambidextrous

Yes, Klangfreund is about the best around, good price. It does baffle me why FCP is the only NLE on the market that doesn't have a good built-in LUFS meter/limiter.


That said, I was production manager for a TV show for about 10 years. We used FCP(X), and we just made sure with a compressor our audio averaged from about 8db to about 4db and we passed every QA test on audio for several other local and national stations.

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ITU-R BS.1770 / EBU R128 loudness normalisation with FInal Cut?

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